Paint company Benjamin Moore sent a bit of a shockwave through the legal community last week when it announced that all four of its in-house counsel would be let go and the work they used to do would be sent to Littler Mendelson and independent contractors, all in the name of cost savings.

So, is this the first domino to fall in an industrywide wave? Not likely, experts say. But it shows that some companies would consider the option, which would mean more work for their law firms.